Letter to the Editor
Mr. Seth Meixner
Editor in Chief
Phnom Penh Post
Dear Sir,
I am dismayed at Sokchea Meas's ignorance of the meaning of the word "yuon" (“Sam Rainsy declares border victory”). As a Cambodian, Mr. Meas should have known clearly that this word had existed in the Khmer vocabulary since time immemorial, even before the existence of the word "Vietnam" and that the meaning of the word is not "a racist epithet".
The word "yuon" we Cambodians used to describe the Vietnamese people is equivalent to the word "mien" the Vietnamese people used to describe the Khmer people. If the Vietnamese are offended by the word "yuon", then should we Khmer be offended by the word "mien" that they used to describe us?
The word "yuon" is a neutral vocabulary. It does not carry any racist connotations. If anything at all, it is just a slang word equivalent to the words "Aussie" for the Australians, "Yankee" for the Americans, "Pommie" for the English or "Kiwi" for the New Zealanders etc.
Also the word "yuon" is a Khmer word we used to call the Vietnamese, while the word "Vietnam" is a Vietnamese word the Vietnamese people used to describe themselves. If the Vietnamese are offended by the word "yuon", should the French be offended when the English people called them "French" instead of the French word "Francais or Francaise"? Or vice versa, should the English people feel offended when the French people called them "Anglais or Anglaise" instead of the English word "English"?
The Thai called Khmer as "kmen", not Khmers and we don't feel offended. But when Khmer people called Thai people "Siem" (derived from the word Siam), the world think that we are racist. The world has always looked at Cambodians as the villains in regards to the Khmer-Vietnamese relations and Khmer-Thai relations. It is not fair.
I hope Phnom Penh Post can be clear of the definition of the word "yuon" from now on.
For your information, I'd like to draw your attention to a detailed article by Kenneth T. So regarding the definition of the word "yuon".
Yours Sincerely,
Khmerization
Mr. Seth Meixner
Editor in Chief
Phnom Penh Post
Dear Sir,
I am dismayed at Sokchea Meas's ignorance of the meaning of the word "yuon" (“Sam Rainsy declares border victory”). As a Cambodian, Mr. Meas should have known clearly that this word had existed in the Khmer vocabulary since time immemorial, even before the existence of the word "Vietnam" and that the meaning of the word is not "a racist epithet".
The word "yuon" we Cambodians used to describe the Vietnamese people is equivalent to the word "mien" the Vietnamese people used to describe the Khmer people. If the Vietnamese are offended by the word "yuon", then should we Khmer be offended by the word "mien" that they used to describe us?
The word "yuon" is a neutral vocabulary. It does not carry any racist connotations. If anything at all, it is just a slang word equivalent to the words "Aussie" for the Australians, "Yankee" for the Americans, "Pommie" for the English or "Kiwi" for the New Zealanders etc.
Also the word "yuon" is a Khmer word we used to call the Vietnamese, while the word "Vietnam" is a Vietnamese word the Vietnamese people used to describe themselves. If the Vietnamese are offended by the word "yuon", should the French be offended when the English people called them "French" instead of the French word "Francais or Francaise"? Or vice versa, should the English people feel offended when the French people called them "Anglais or Anglaise" instead of the English word "English"?
The Thai called Khmer as "kmen", not Khmers and we don't feel offended. But when Khmer people called Thai people "Siem" (derived from the word Siam), the world think that we are racist. The world has always looked at Cambodians as the villains in regards to the Khmer-Vietnamese relations and Khmer-Thai relations. It is not fair.
I hope Phnom Penh Post can be clear of the definition of the word "yuon" from now on.
For your information, I'd like to draw your attention to a detailed article by Kenneth T. So regarding the definition of the word "yuon".
Yours Sincerely,
6 comments:
Well said.. I couldn't have put it better myself. I would be willing to bet that others (Khmer and non-Khmer) alike would feel the same way.
Khmer in general, is very civilize, kind, peaceful, and lastly intelligent people. This is the 21th century.. time for peace and happiness NOT war!
Peace and God bless!
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Dear Khmerization ,
When SAM Rainsy said " YOUN" to vietnamise 's people is a big word of racist.
When HUN Sen said " Meit YOUN " is a sweet word.(bis)
Only racist or not just from whom who speak.
Sarika,of battambang.fr
True, many CPP people did use the word yuon some time. I heard of the CPP people used the word "mit yuon" (our Yuon friend) before. Yuon is not a racist word. It existed long before the word Vietnam came into being. Vietnam was called Annam before and the word Vietnam was only used in the early 1900s, I think.
And beside, the Laotians and the Thais called the Vietnamese people "yuon" as well. So, what do the white people or other foreigners think of them? Are they racist toward the Vietnamese, like what they think of Cambodians when we used the word "yuon"?
Well...I'm sure Youn have a racist name for Khmer too. I don't who are the Youn sympathizers that brought up this non-sense issue. Youn is a perfect description for Viet. If anyone deserve to call Viet "Youn" it's Khmer and Cham. These two group of people suffered the most from the Youn. Cham of Champa(central Vietnam) lost the whole nation while Khmer lost Kampuchea Krom(south Vietnam). Youn are sneaky, untrustworthy, selfish, arrogance, and self-center little bastards. With their attitudes and psychology of success, Youn are able of expand the territory always from Gulf of Tonkin to Gulf of Thailand. Whatever we call it, Youn are very proud of this achievement. ONCE A THIEF, ALWAYS A THIEF.
The word Yuon is only used by Khmer therefore it is a racial term.
Look at this guy above me how he calls Nammers thieves, sneaky, untrustworthy. He claims he is not racist? Haha! A joke. If I had a choice Kampuchea would be Nammer lands. We need it more than you do. We want it more than you do. Hun Sen is educated it our country, Indochina Federation.
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